Blog Tour Stop and Guest Post: The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing by C.K. Kelly Martin

Book & Author details:

The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing by C.K. Kelly Martin 

Publication date: September 1st 2014

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Losing weight over the summer gains Serena some popularity, but it also means discovering first-hand the pains of being a fifteen-year-old girl in a world that both sexualizes and shames young women. After narrowly avoiding exploitation in a shortlived relationship, Serena aligns with a new friend who was the victim of an explicit image that was shared at school. When Serena finds herself in a relationship with a new guy, she is surprised to find a different set of expectations. But have her previous experiences damaged her too much to make it work? As Serena struggles to find who she is as opposed to who she is expected to be, she begins sighting Devin – her older brother who disappeared months earlier.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22135341-the-sweetest-thing-you-can-sing?ac=1

Purchase:

--Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Sweetest-Thing-You-Sing/dp/1770864113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405621934&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Sweetest+Thing+You+Can+Sing

--B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sweetest-thing-you-can-sing-ck-kelly-martin/1119684532?ean=9781770864115

AUTHOR BIO

C.K. KELLY MARTIN’s bestselling debut novel, I Know It’s Over, was published in 2008. It was followed by One Lonely Degree, The Lighter Side of Life and Death, My Beating Teenage Heart and the sci-fi thriller, Yesterday. A graduate of the Film Studies program at York University, Martin loves good books, movies, music, web design, and Ireland. She currently resides in Oakville, Ontario.

Author Links:

http://www.ckkellymartin.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3015727.C_K_Kelly_Martin

https://www.facebook.com/ckkellymartin

https://twitter.com/CKKellyMartin

The Importance of Book Covers

Apparently that old adage about not judging a book by its cover goes back to at least 1867 and while I’m sure most of us would agree with it, and realize a compelling novel can sometimes be found lurking under the drabbest of covers, it’s difficult not to be momentarily awed by an attractive cover. 

Obviously every writer wants a cover they can fall in love with. The trouble is that what an author might love, might not be the same cover the publisher’s sales and marketing departments or Barnes & Nobel rep prefers. The truth is, an author doesn’t always have a lot of choice in what appears on their book’s cover. Sometimes their publisher doesn’t even have much of a choice. For several of my young adult novels, I was told by my publisher that Barnes & Noble wanted a girl on the cover as a condition of their stocking the book. 

Now, of course there’s nothing wrong with having a girl on the cover of your book and Barnes & Noble must have found these sorts of covers sell copies. But having any single image as a default for a YA book doesn’t make sense to me when there are so many different arresting images and designs to consider. In practice, what this girl on the cover (and usually not a large variety of girls – mostly pretty white girls in attractive poses, which makes you wonder where the heck everyone else is!) preference has led to is a flood of novels that are fairly indistinguishable from each other visually. We could aptly call them ‘the pretty girl covers.’ 

But a good cover isn’t just appealing to look at; it should also faithfully represent the distinctness of the story inside. For example, for a novel which is a nuanced exploration of a teenage meth addict’s emotional state, Beneath a Meth Moon (by Jaqueline Woodson) is a stunning cover. On the other hand, the hardback cover of Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (the middle book in a series I absolutely loved by the way!) is pretty, but bland. It doesn’t reveal anything about the fascinating dystopian story within its pages. If I hadn’t already known something about the book, the cover certainly wouldn’t have made me pull the book off the shelf. 

It’s a tall order, isn’t it? That a book cover should ideally look intriguing, appealing AND be a genuine reflection of the novel it represents. But as an author that’s what I’m always hoping for. The last thing a book cover should do is misrepresent itself and look like a frothy romance when it’s really a hard-hitting book about mental illness, for example. 

It doesn’t escape me that the cover for my new young adult book, The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing, features one of the things I’m complaining about here—a girl on the cover—but I’m definitely not saying there shouldn’t be any girls on book covers; I’m arguing against being generic, like many of the covers in this photo I snapped of a collection of books on a Coles table back in 2011. 

This is a trend that’s had a fair amount of criticism over the last few years and as a result I hope it’s one that has finally begun to fade and give way to more distinct covers. Taste is incredibly subjective and opinions about individual covers will always vary 

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Guest Post by G.S. Wright: Birth of the Novel

The Birth of the Novel

I once spoke with a very wise woman (my wife) about writing a novel. She compared the process to pregnancy. While (un)fortunately I’ve never been able to experience childbirth firsthand, I’ve been a part of the journey several times. From my dangerously male point of view, I will now share with you all of the joys and tribulations of the novel-birthing process.

(Note: time may vary – your novel may have the gestation of a guppy or that of an elephant).

The First Trimester

It seemed like a good idea at the time, right? You decided that you have what it takes to write a novel. Look where that’s got you. It started off great. You told your friends and family, “Look! I’m writing a book!” Maybe you began with an idea of what your child (novel) should look like, with an outline chasing a three act structure. But then the aches and pains begin. It’s suddenly scary. Your great idea sometimes makes you sick, and you wonder how you’re ever going to survive the process. Perhaps you wonder if your idea was even worth conceiving. It just felt so right when you started. Hang in there. Your muse won’t let you down.

The Second Trimester

Sometimes it feels like your novel is never going to be realized. Will it be fully developed? You want your novel to be perfect, but what are the chances of that? When you look back at what you’ve created, you want to pick at the flaws. This stage may end when your first draft is complete, but your novel still needs time to develop. All of its internal organs are there, all the things that make up a novel. But it’s not the wonderful, precious gift to the world that you imagined yet. You’re excited to show the world your baby, but there are risks to releasing your book prematurely. 

The Third Trimester

 Rewrites and editing... Sometimes it feels like you’re done, but your support group comes back with another list of things needing fixed. You’re spending your time fixing up the baby room by showing the world your beautiful book cover, and preparing your author platform for your novel’s arrival. Yet even as the time draws near, you are filled with uncertainty. Will the world like your book? Will it fit in with its peers? Will it have your voice?

The End

After all of your hard work, your book will hit the ground like a baby giraffe and have to run on its own, right out of your creative womb. It will make friends and enemies, and go places you’ve only dreamed of. If you’ve given your book the proper nurturing, it will have a better chance than many of its peers. Don’t be ashamed of it. You are no longer just a writer. Hold your book high (like a monkey holding up a lion cub for the entire savannah to see) and call yourself an author.

It wasn’t that bad, was it? There’s already a sparkle in your eye and you’re ready to try again.

G.S. Wright lives in Southern Idaho, with his wife, Aimee, and their three boys. He writes Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. His books are BROKEN THINGS and DEATH STORM.

Connect with G.S. Wright Online:

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/G.S.-Wright/e/B00BACWEQA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GarthSWright

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gswrightauthor

Blog: gswright.com

Blog Tour Stop and Guest Post: Starseed by Liz Gruder

Starseed
Author: Liz Gruder
ISBN: 978-1937178291
Publisher: WiDo Publishing
Published: February 2013

SUMMARY

Kaila Guidry has always known she is different. When she meets Jordyn Stryker at school, she finds out just how different.

Jordyn was born and raised far from Earth, a starseed, one of six new students sent to Louisiana's Bush High to learn human ways. But Jordyn didn't count on meeting someone like Kaila.

When Kaila is pushed to her limit by high school bullying and cruelty, Jordyn awakens her to a new reality—and to love. But to prove herself, Kaila must look the other way as the real purposes of the starseeds unfold.

As the horrific plan behind the starseed visit to Earth moves inexorably forward, Kaila and Jordan, caught in an impossible love, must determine where their true loyalties lie.


Praise

"You know from the opening paragraph that something very strange is going on… We see Kaila try to live the life of a normal teen, and we see her "otherness" pull her back into an increasingly tangled web of questions, deceit, and hidden intentions. Liz really shines as a writer, lining the closets and drawers of everyday life with spine-chilling suspense that springs out at you when you least expect it. Starseed is an entertaining read. I highly recommend."
--Patricia B. Smith. Author “What the Animals Tell Me” and “Fifty Shades of Santa” (clean romance fiction)

"Liz Gruder’s characters come alive through youthful, spunky narrative, and her headstrong heroine, Kaila Guidry, elicits a reader’s encouragement from the first page. Fans of Amanda Hocking will find themselves similarly transported into Gruder’s exploration of the dark sides of faith, love, higher dimensions, and, of course, high school." --Jadie Jones, young-adult fantasy author

Purchase

Publisher * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Amazon Kindle

Author Liz Gruder

As a youth, Liz Gruder saw a series of UFOs with her best friend while riding bikes. Ever since, she’s held a fascination for the stars. An avid reader, she used to hide under her covers and read with a flashlight. She has degrees in English and Psychology from Tulane University, a nursing license and a yoga certification. After going through Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Liz realized how short life is and is now slowly fulfilling her bucket list: she’s been to the Egyptian pyramids (totally awesome and thought provoking) and is now teaching yoga and writing speculative fiction. Starseed is her debut novel.

Goodreads * Twitter * Website * Blog * Facebook

Guest Post: Tips for Writing a Sci-Fi YA Novel

It’s essential to do a lot of research no matter what you’re writing. So, in undertaking a novel about extraterrestrials, I devoured everything I could on ETs and UFOs. If you read about a vampire putting on suntan lotion in a beach scene, you’d suspect the writer hadn’t done her homework and that author loses credibility. Likewise, since most UFO sightings are of saucer or triangular shaped craft, you don’t want a rocket ship. That’s why we laugh at black-and-white 1950s alien movies—because the scriptwriters were trying to create ships and aliens based on imagination and a 1950s technology.

There’s debate about the propulsion systems of UFOs, but most people agree they are silent, that they can make right-angles while flying in the sky, that they can simply disappear from sight. Rocket ships can’t do this, so clearly alien technology involves knowledge of physics most humans don’t currently have. So most of the research I did on UFOs is considered “fringe” science. It took me through an incredible ride of other dimensions, teleportation, telepathy and a hybrid program (creating a race of people who are half-human, half extraterrestrial).

While research can be fascinating, it won’t fascinate your readers in a novel unless you create characters the reader care about and put them in precarious situations. Research alone equals non-fiction. Fiction, first and foremost, must have characters that evoke emotion in the reader. When thinking of your fave novels, isn’t it because the situation and characters aroused emotion? It wasn’t because of the science or fantasy itself, but because the characters were put into a credible situation due to the research and then suffered, feared, loved and grew. A lot of science fiction can seem cold or clinical and that’s why I think characters and emotion are essential in YA sci-fi.

This is also why I think that a lot of YA sci-fi features a strong romance element. When you have a teen girl who is half-extraterrestrial and home-schooled because her family knows she’s different, then put her in high school where she meets a boy who is half extraterrestrial, yet raised far from Earth, you set up immediate attraction. Who hasn’t, at times, felt different and like an alien? Especially in high school when the judging can be so harsh and we are struggling to know our true selves. If you were half-ET, who could better understand than a real alien? You’d probably look at all the high school “groups” with equal puzzlement. We dream of meeting that “other half” that understands, that is in sync, that doesn’t ridicule or mock because we are different. Ridicule and mocking are for bullies and less evolved beings . . . .

It’s important to maintain consistency. I had a scene where Jordyn teleports Kaila to Egypt for her birthday. Now how can it be afternoon and sunny in Louisiana, USA and then afternoon and sunny in Egypt? Wouldn’t it be night time in Egypt? Not if aliens can access timelines and teleport to times in the past or future. So to arrive in sunny afternoon Egypt, Jordyn explains time and that they are actually standing in Egypt the “previous” afternoon.

The word “starseed” is a generic term, meaning someone who originates from the stars. Though many characters in Starseed are hybrids (biological half-human, half-extraterrestrial people), there are starseeds whose soul originates from other star systems yet placed in a human body. This is the basis for the character Priscilla Snowden, who exemplifies the truer meaning of what many understand as starseeds here on Earth. These starseeds are benevolent and wish for the raising of human consciousness. Many starseeds don’t even know they are starseeds, but have always had an interest in the stars and instinctively know they are different. Science or science fiction? … you decide.

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Aura by Rebecca Talley Blog Tour Stop and Guest Post

Summary:

"I half-turned to her and shrugged, still processing what I'd seen, or at least what I thought I'd seen, in Ms. Neal's eyes—like they weren't hers. Obviously, they were her eyes, but it looked like she'd plucked them from someone else's head. A dead someone else's head."

In the fight between good and evil, Light is your only weapon.

Crystal Scott finally feels like a normal teenager. She has a lead in the high school play, a best friend, and a gorgeous boyfriend. With prom only a few days away, Crystal’s ordinary life seems perfect.

Endowed with great Light because of her virtuous choices and her inherent gifts, Crystal’s aura has become visible to those with the ability to see auras. Unfortunately, her power has also attracted the attention of demons intent on destroying all Light.

When Vincent Crandall, the human host for a powerful demon, discovers that Crystal’s Light is strong enough to disrupt the connection between demons and their hosts, he realizes she may be able to sever the connection altogether. Determined to stop her from interfering with his plans to rule the world, he sends operatives to neutralize her Light.

After the operatives fail to disable Crystal, Vincent decides he must harness her power for himself. He kidnaps her parents, and Crystal is thrust into battle against a demon army she didn’t even know existed. With the help of a mysterious young man and his mother, Crystal must learn to use the power within her before Vincent kills her parents and exploits her Light.

Goodreads * Amazon

Author Rebecca Lynn Talley

Rebecca Lynn Talley grew up in the gorgeous seaside city of Santa Barbara, CA. She met, and married, her husband, Del, while attending Brigham Young University. She graduated from BYU with a degree in Communications. She currently lives in rural Colorado on a small ranch with a dog, too many cats to count, and a herd of goats. She and Del are the proud parents of ten wildly-creative, multi-talented children.

Rebecca is the author of a children's picture book, Grasshopper Pie (WindRiver 2003), a children's chapter book, Gabby's Secret (DuBon Publishing 2011), four novels, Heaven Scent (CFI 2008), Altared Plans (CFI 2009), The Upside of Down (CFI 2011), and Aura (DuBon Publishing 2012). She has also authored numerous children's stories and articles for both print and online magazines.

When she isn’t writing, Rebecca loves to date her husband, play with her kids, swim in the ocean, and dance to disco music while she cleans the house. She has folded at least one million loads of laundry, baked hundreds of batches of chocolate chip cookies, and eaten 5,478 gallons of ice cream.

Twitter * Facebook * Website * Blog * Aura Blog

Reviews
This YA urban fantasy is fantastic! The story grabbed me from the start and kept me enthralled until the end! I love books that keep me thinking about the characters and events and possibilities even after putting them down...Aura is one of those books! Rebecca Lynn Talley has created characters you care about in a world begging for the special gifts they possess. I love the premise of Aura and imagine I'll be enjoying many more Light vs. Demon novels in the future....at least I hope there are more to come!
~KindleQueen

I loved the clasic good VS evil in Aura. I loved that Crystal made the conscious choice to be good inspite of feelings and doubts. I also loved the idea of demons posessing somone who had made dark choices, or greedy bargains. The book is clean and well handled inspite of the serious subject matter.Well done.
~C. Michelle Jefferies

This is one of those books that you hope will become widespread enough to make a positive impact in this world. Personally, I think this is a book every teenager should read and I will definitely be passing it along to my own kids. Thank you, Rebecca, for writing a beautiful story with a wonderful message! I hope you keep at it because now I want a sequel!
~Rachael Anderson

Aura sucked me in from the first page. The book is intense and well-written. I loved that Crystal is innocent and makes a conscious choice to stay that way in the face of intense pressure. I would recommend Aura to young adults on up.
~Cami Checketts

Wonderful, wonderful message. Probably the most solid moral message I’ve ever read in contemporary literature, but without being too heavy or feeling like a lecture. You could almost look at it like an allegory, I think, representing real life with fictional symbols. I’m trying to explain without giving anything away, and I think I’m doing a bad job. Anyway, I have four boys, but if I had a girl, I would definitely have her read it. The story is imaginative and creative, Crystal is a strong but believable heroine, caught up in high school cares and not realizing her own potential or the battle that is waged around and for her. I thought at times it was a bit predictable, and that the first half of the book drug a little. It probably could have been told quicker or perhaps made a little more interesting. But all in all, I enjoyed it. The story kept me going and the characters were sweet and compelling.
~May Abbey

Wow! I got this book for free and LOVED it! I can't wait to read any follow up books! (There WILL be follow up books, right?) In this story Crystal is full of light, thanks to making good choices, and she has to figure out how to keep the light in the midst of high school where temptation runs rampant and where she just wants to be an average girl! I like that things never went too far, and I felt like it was very well-written, with rounded out characters!
~Tamera Westhoff

Try Freewriting for Writer's Block

I have ten kids. Yes, ten kids and they tend to take up a lot of my time. Since I don't have the luxury of an abundance of time, I have to use the little time I have as wisely as possible. For this reason, I don't generally have writer's block per se.

What usually works for me to prevent writer's block is thinking through the writing before I actually write. While I'm in the shower or washing dishes or folding laundry or driving in the car, I think about the next scene I want to write. I work out details and even go through dialogue so that when I have the next chance to write, I can immediately begin writing.

However, the few times that I've been stuck, I find that freewriting is my best friend. I take a notebook and pen and just start writing whatever comes into my mind. Sometimes, I'll start at the beginning of the story and write a synopsis. Other times, I'll write in one of the character's POV. And, once in a while, I'll interview the character. I don't edit what I write and I may not even stay in the same train of thought. I just let myself write with no rules and no time limit. Usually, by the time I'm done, I've worked through and solved the problem I was having. Freewriting allows me to be unrestrained and see where my writing will go.

The next time you're stuck, try freewriting. Word of caution: Don't use the computer--my nasty inner editor thinks that writing on the computer is serious business and tries to interfere. Writing longhand in a notebook seems to silence that annoying critic.

Freewriting may be just what you need to work through a block. Try it, you might be surprised by what you discover

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Remnants of Life Blog Tour Stop

Today, I'm very excited to welcome Georgia L. Jones. Check out her guest post and read all about her fabulous books!

First of all, I would like to thank Heather's Book Chatter for having me as a Guest.  I always appreciate opportunities to talk to fans and reach new ones as well.  

I have always enjoyed reading, especially in the fantasy genre.  I have also always enjoyed writing.  When I began Legends of Darkness back in early 2010 I really wasn't intending on it becoming a series book.  I have read a lot of series books and enjoy them, but I didn't start the series with the those intentions in mind.  I had been thinking of the concept of Legends for about a year before I began writing it.  I was working through the details of finding something fresh.  I was actually bored with same old concept of vampires and wanted to spin it on its ear.  I wanted to find something that would be as shocking and different as Bram Stokers Dracula was back in 1897.  I just wanted a fresh concept and an explanation for why they are considered to be evil.  Once I found my beginning I began writing.  

Legends begin with just an average woman who dies in an unfortunate accident.  She leaves behind a life of family and friends.  She is thrown into an afterlife where she becomes Samoda, a Warrior in the army of Nuem.  She is not only a Warrior but destined to become a leader in this army.  Through her struggles with the afterlife, we learn many things about the species that she has become and about the hierarchy of all the species that exist in the Remnants of Life stories.  The Warriors have been on earth since before humans existed. They were made to destroy evil, it is innate to them and they really can't help it.  I intertwine the story of the Warriors with legends of vampires.  I mix it up a little and make Vlad Tepes a really bad guy.  In Legends he fell in love with one of the Warriors and when she denied him, he became filled with vengeance towards all of them.  He began to do horrible things and blame it on them.  He falsely accused them of being evil vampires that were nothing more than blood sucking killers.  When this happened they began to stay away from humans as much as possible.  I have created the Warriors as "Dangerous Saviors". ..They are here to protect the world from demons that continuously plot to take over the human race and sometimes really evil humans just get in their path and they can't help but destroy them as well. 

Witches, the second book in the Remnants series, is due to be out on December 1, 2012.  It is a continuation of the story, but from the perspective of a seemingly human woman, Kali Rose Marriott. Her life becomes entangled with the Warriors and well...all hell breaks loose.  In Witches, I get a little more involved in world building as I being to really take on Atheria and Vicus, which are the two places that the other species reside when they are not here either saving the humans or trying to take us over.

I anticipate the Remnants of Life Series to be five books long.  I am currently working on the third book in the series.  As I said earlier when I began writing Legends, I did not know it would become a series book.  As I worked on Legends, it evolved not only in my mind but on paper.  I began outlining the whole series as I wrote the first book.  Some of the storylines have varied a little from the beginning outline, but for the most part it has stayed on course with that original outline. In light of vampires being used so much in books today, I believe the Remnants series gives a completely fresh idea to the concept.  

I’m always glad to get feedback from fans.  Please visit WWW.GEORGIALJONES.COM  to learn more about me and my writing.

Remnants of Life Series Tour

Presented by First Rule PR

Tour URL: http://www.firstrulepublicity.com/current-tours/remnants-of-life/

Remnants of Life: Legends of Darkness by Georgia L. Jones

Genre: Urban Fantasy
181 pages

Dangerous Saviors… What would you do if your life rested in the hands of something that really wanted to eat you? Come journey through the realms of the next world where everything you know about Good and Evil are put to the test.

Samantha Garrett lives and dies a good life in the human world. She awakens a new creature, Samoda, a vampire-like warrior in the army of Nuem. She is forced to realize that she has become a part of a world that humans believe to be only “Legends of Darkness.” Samoda finds her new life is entwined with the age old story of greed, love, betrayal, and vengeance.

Join our heroine as she battles not just for her own existence, but for the entire human race’s future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Georgia L. Jones was born in Columbia, Missouri on September 21st, 1968. In 1992 she settled in the beautiful Ozarks town of Lebanon, Missouri, where she met and married the love of her life. Together they have raised 7 children and have the 8th still in their home.

At a young age Georgia learned the value of getting lost in a good book. She has always enjoyed reading and letting her imagination run wild. In her early teenage years she began to put her own stories down on paper as she plunked out the words on an old manual typewriter.

In 1996 Georgia enrolled at Missouri State University where she majored in Psychology. While there she found an untamable thirst for Philosophy and Greek Mythology. Many evenings she can still be found curled up with one of the great Greek Tragedy’s or reading about personal continuity by Rene Descarte.

Over the years Georgia has harbored the dream of being a published author and written many short stories. On January 10, 2010 she embarked on the dream as she began to bring the characters from her first novel, “Legends of Darkness”, to life. Upon completion in June 2010 she realized that it was not a single book but a series and created the concept of the series “Remnants of Life”. She is currently working diligently on the “Remnants of Life” series.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

 SAMODA'S FACEBOOK PAGE http://www.facebook.com/remnantsoflife

AUTHOR'S FACEBOOK PAGE  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Remnants-of-Life/153669898006729

 TWITTER -- https://twitter.com/georgiagljones

             WEBSITE http://www.georgialjones.com/      

My Writing Inspirations-Blog Tour Stop on Book Lovin' Mamas

Today, I stopped by the fabulous blog Book Lovin' Mamas to talk about writing inspiration, share an excerpt from First Visions and also hold a contest for a free e-copy of the book. Be sure to stop by to check out the entire post and enter the giveaway. Leave a comment to enter a chance for a $30 Amazon gift card. Contest details are here.

Getting in the Mood to Create: My Writing Inspirations

The topic of writing inspiration is really interesting for me to think about. I find inspiration in so many things, it almost seems impossible to narrow it down to a select few. The funny thing is the things that help me create my stories have a huge divide. I can just as easily find inspiration in a marathon of Supernatural on the CW as equally as a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Old Writings

Were you as angsty as I was during your teen years? Besides being dirt poor, I was socially awkward with a penchant for playing the trombone. To say the least, my dance card was far from full. Instead of a social life, I filled notebook after notebook of dreadfully melodramatic stories of characters with the lives I coveted. They were beautiful, rich and had amazing love lives. After my beloved grandmother passed away last year, I retrieved my writings from her home. Although most of the work was crap, I did find a few storylines worth developing. A book of my favorite poems as a teen was also in the collection and helped me tap back into that creativity of my youth.

Getting Away From It All

I LOVE my husband and sons with all of my heart. However, temper tantrums and diaper duty doesn’t lend well to creative inspiration. Going for a solo drive or having a chance to people watch can really give me a chance to work on current stories or find new characters or plot points to fit into future writings. Taking the boys for walks can really help with my inspiration as well. As they play, I can let my mind wander.

Books/TV Shows/Movies

I’m big on escapist shows, movies and books. Even the reality TV shows I watch are not really steeped in reality (The Bachelorette? You get to live in a mansion and travel the world while 20 gorgeous guys vie for your hand in marriage. I would guess not too many people have this kind of life). Watching these crazy scenarios play out on screen or on the page helps me get my mind in the place it needs to be to write about paranormal things. Although I definitely watch and read a lot of paranormal stuff, I try to vary genres and also enjoy romantic comedies, thrillers and real-life mysteries.

Music and art are definitely major inspirations as well and I love to spend the day writing after a trip to the museum or attending a concert. Although I could probably write a novel on the topic, these are the most significant. It’s exceedingly important to identify the things that inspire you since this can be such a huge help in overcoming writer’s block.